"8 Million Strong and Voting!" Small business is the heart beat of the United States economy. This blog searches for issues and answers to helping small business survive and thrive in California and the United States.

Friday, January 29, 2010

The details of President Obama’s small business tax credits are now becoming more clear. They are:

A $5000 tax credit for every net new employee

Small businesses that increase wages or hours for their existing employees will be reimbursed for the Social Security payroll taxes they pay on the increase payroll.

Firms will be able to claim the credit on a quarterly basis.

Will this encourage you to hire more employees or increase wages?

Are these tax credits more important than increasing the ability of small business to access capital?

I am getting calls from the media on this so I would appreciate your response.

Yesterday I was on the call with the White House people. I asked the question about continued stimulus funding for the SBA 7a and 504 loans. This funding would be used to continue the 90% guarantee on loans and the waiver of fees. It also would allow the SBA to make loans up to $5 million. Unfortunately my question did not get answered and it is not clear how much effort the President will make to make sure money is available after February.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

I just received this and it is very short notice but some of you may be interested in getting on this call. ------------------

Good morning, the White House will host a series of conference calls with senior Obama Administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of Union Address. The White House is encouraging you to participate in these calls and will have a question and answer session at the end of each call. As a reminder, these calls are not intended for press purposes. Please dial in a few minutes early to ensure full participation. Please give the title of the call to the operator to enter the call.

What did you think about President Obama’s speech. Certainly he has changed his focus from Health legislation to Jobs. He also seemed to recognize the importance of small business and put forth some proposals that could be helpful to small business but I think the small business community wants to see action beyond speeches. Hopefully that will occur because the United States will not be successful in its efforts to create jobs without small business.

One important measure that must get passed is additional stimulus funding for SBA 7a and 504 loans. This money would be used to continue the 90% SBA guarantee on 7a and 504 loans and increase the ability of the SBA to make loans up to $5 million. As you know Small Business California is working hard on getting the passage of HR 4032. We have called every California member of House asking them to Cosign. To date Congresswoman Speier, Congresswoman Richardson, Congresswoman Woolsey, Congressman Costa and Congressman Cordoza have agreed to do so.

In San Francisco President of the Board of Supervisors David Chiu and Supervisors Avalos, Campos,Chu,Daly,Dufty and Elsbernd are all sending letters to Speaker Pelosi asking her to support HR 4302. We are hopeful Supervisors Alioto Pier,Mar, Maxwell and Mirkarimi will come on Board.

The stimulus funding that has been provided for the SBA will run out at the end of February. Small businesses around the country will be watching to see just how serious the President and the Legislators are in stimulating small business job creation and whether they can get past the partisan bickering to provide much needed capital to us

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Many of you have asked what the Federal Stimulus package has for small business. Please see below information I have received from Speaker Pelosi’s office.

Do any of these things benefit you?

I received an email from one of our members Burr, Pilger and Mayer. They are an accounting firm in SF. The content of the email was that President Obama on Jan 22 signed HR 4462 that allows donors to Haitian earthquake victims after Jan 11, 2010 to March1 2010 to take an itemized deduction in their 2009 taxes. Please contact your accountant for more specifics.

I just received word that Volunteers In Medicine has opened its 77 clinic. These are in 25 states around the country. Our Volunteers in Medicine clinic,Clinic by the Bay, is moving right along and we believe we will be opening in the summer of 2010. Thank you to all that have made a contribution.

Small Business/Business Excerpts From Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Speech on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Business Tax Incentives to Create Jobs and Spur Investment ($10 billion over 10 years)· Bonus Depreciation: Help businesses quickly recover costs of new capital investments by extending the increased bonuses depreciation for businesses making investments in new plans and equipment in 2009.

· Buying Back Debt: Provides assistance to companies looking to reduce their debt burdens by delaying the tax on businesses that have discharge indebtedness, which will help these companies strengthen their balance sheets and obtain resources to invest in job creation.

· Small Business Expensing: Spurs small business investment by extending small business expensing, which doubles the amount small businesses can immediately write off their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new equipment made in 2009 from $125,000 to $250,000. This write off phases out completely for investments over $800,000 (up from $500,000).

· Small Business Loss Carrybacks: Increases cash flow for small businesses by providing a 5-year carryback of net operating losses (NOLs). This would allow small businesses (with gross receipts of less than $15 million) to write off losses incurred in 2008 against taxes assessed over the previous five years (current law limits NOL carryback to the previous two years), thereby reducing their taxes this spring.

· Small Business Investment: Spurs investments in small businesses by cutting the capital gain tax on investors in small businesses who buy stock (in the next two years) and hold for more than five years – increasing from 50 percent to 75 percent the capital gains that are excluded from tax.

· 3% Government Withholding: Delays the mandate that federal, state, local governments withhold 3 percent of payments to businesses for goods and services, which is supported by the National Small Business Association.

Spurring Job Creation by American Businesses Large and Small

American businesses, large and small, are the engine of the economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama on February 17, expands opportunities for small business, and contains incentives for businesses of all sizes to invest in new plants and equipment. The measure will strengthen a broad range of industries, such as renewable energy, construction and manufacturing, and information technology, which are critical to creating jobs now, as well as transforming our economy for the 21st Century.Creating Small Business Opportunities (Invests over $1 billion to create an estimated 645,000 jobs)

· Spurs more than $21 billion in new investment in small business and small business loans, with guarantees needed to make loans more attractive to lenders and free up capital for small businesses. By making the Small Business Administration a more active partner and by unfreezing credit markets, this will give small firms access to the capital they need to stay afloat, create jobs and help drive economic recovery.

o Eliminates all fees on SBA-backed loans.o Establishes a new program that will allow SBA to make no-interest loans to firms that are struggling to make payment on existing debts.o Raises from 85 to 90 percent the portion of a loan that the Small Business Administration will guarantee.o Spurs investment in high-growth, small firms by streamlining the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program to allow them to invest more flexibly.

· Guarantees nearly $3 billion in loans for rural businesses at a time of unprecedented demand due to the credit crunch. Private lenders are increasingly turning to this program to help businesses get access to capital.

· Invests in Economic Development Assistance (EDA) to address long-term economic distress in urban industrial cores and rural areas, distributed based on need and ability to create jobs and attract private investment. Every $1 in federal EDA funds leverages $10 in private investments.

· Bonus Depreciation: Helps businesses quickly recover costs of new capital investments by extending the increased bonus depreciation for businesses making investments in new plants and equipment in 2009.

· Buying Back Debt: Provides assistance to companies looking to reduce their debt burdens by delaying the tax on businesses that have discharged indebtedness, which will help these companies strengthen their balance sheets and obtain resources to invest in job creation.

· Small Business Expensing: Spurs small business investment by extending increased small business expensing, which doubles the amount small businesses can immediately write off for capital investments and purchases of new equipment made in 2009 from $125,000 to $250,000. This write off phases out completely for investments over $800,000 (up from $500,000).

· Small Business Loss Carrybacks: Increases cash flow for small businesses by providing a 5-year carryback of net operating losses (NOLs). This would allow small businesses (with gross receipts of less than $15 million) to write off losses incurred in 2008 against taxes assessed over the previous five years (current law limits NOL carryback to the previous two years).

· Small Business Investment: Spurs investments in small businesses by cutting the capital gain tax (by increasing from 50 percent to 75 percent the capital gains that are excluded from tax) for investors in small businesses who buy stock (in the next two years) and hold for more than five years.

· 3% Government Withholding: Delays the mandate that federal, state, and local governments withhold 3 percent of payments to businesses for goods and services, which is supported by the National Small Business Association.Creating Small Business Opportunities

· Rural Business Loans: Guarantees nearly $3 billion in loans for rural businesses at a time of unprecedented demand due to the credit crunch.

· Small Business Loans: Spurs more than $21 Billion in new investment in small business and small business loans, with guarantees needed to make loans more attractive to lenders and to free up capital for small businesses. This will give smaller firms access to the capital they need to stay afloat, create jobs and help drive an economic recovery.

o Eliminates all fees on SBA-backed loanso Establishes a new program that will allow SBA to make no-interest loans to firms that are struggling to make payment on existing debts.o Raises from 85 to 90 percent the portion of a loan that the Small Business Administration will guarantee.

· Bonus Depreciation: Helps businesses quickly recover costs of new capital investments by extending the increased bonus depreciation for businesses making investments in new plants and equipment in 2009.

· Small Business Expensing: Spurs small business investment by extending increased small business expensing, which doubles the amount small businesses can immediately write off for capital investments and purchases of new equipment made in 2009 from $125,000 to $250,000. This write-off phases out completely for investments over $800,000 (up from $500,000).

· As the Farm Bureau noted: “Farmers and ranchers will also greatly benefit from the extension of both the small business expensing levels and bonus depreciation tax, which will help them improve cash flow while aiding the economy by encouraging purchases of equipment.”

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Small Business California has been working hard on the passage of HR 4302 which will continue funding for the increase in SBA guarantees on 7a and 504 loans, waive the fees on those loans and increase the size of those loans from $2 million to $5 million.Yesterday we got word from Congressman Costa’s office that he will be cosigning HR 4302. As you will recall Congresswoman Speier and Congresswoman Richardson sign on last week.

With the election in Massachusetts and the turmoil in Washington I fear that we are again going to see funding run out at the end of February as it did in November. This clearly creates problems in the banking community because of the uncertainty and like in November we will see SBA loans plummet. If you haven’t done so already please call your Congressman and ask him/her to cosign this important bill

Yesterday Lori Kammerer our lobbyist, Skip Brown of Delta Construction and I met with 7 people in Betty Yees office to discuss the issue of charging integrated manufacturers sales tax on the cost of materials for road and concrete work. This is an issue of leveling the playing field for small contractors bidding on this work. It also would raise around, we estimate, $100 million for the state.

As a result of this meeting SB Cal will be introducing legislation this week to address this problem.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A small business hero died last Friday. His name is Charlie Brown and he ran the Northern Training Employment Consortium NoRTEC. I first met Charlie when I was appointed to the State Workforce Investment Board. Charlie had a novel approach to job creation and that was to see business and especially small business as the customers of NoRTEC and if done right they would create jobs.

Well Charlie and the people of NoRTEC do it right and NoRTEC has been recognized Nationally for their tremendous work in not only helping businesses but training and placing people in good jobs.

On a personal level Charlie was a mentor to me and he was always there to give me support and guidance. I will miss him greatly.

To find out more about NoRTEC and Charlie's legacy please visit their website at www.nortec.org

I'm very sorry to tell you that Charlie passed away peacefully on Friday evening. He was at home with Terri and their daughters at his side.

I spent some time with Terrianne yesterday. I think she is doing as well as can be expected, but this has been extremely difficult for her and the family. I know that they would appreciate your prayers and support.

At Charlie's request, there are no services planned. If you would like to send Terrianne a card, her address is: 5797 Thoreau Ln, Paradise, CA 95969.

One of the last things that Charlie told Terri was: "Don't you dare cancel the board meeting!" We are not going to go against his wishes, so we will have the board meeting as planned next Thursday. We are planning an abbreviated agenda with time for people to share their thoughts about Charlie.

As you know, Charlie ran NoRTEC like a family. This has also been very difficult for the NoRTEC family. We would also appreciate your prayers and support. The office will be closed on Tuesday in Charlie's honor.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Northern California Independent Retail Booksellers Association has formally joined as an affiliate member of Small Business California. Small Business California will be working closely with them in their efforts to have all companies including Amazon be required to charge sales tax on internet sales. According to some accounts the state loses over $400 million and clearly creates an unfair playing field for brick and mortar small businesses. This is not only applicable to book stores but electronics stores and music stores just to name a few.

We now have three affiliate members. The other two are The Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors and the California Association of Telecommunications companies

You may have wondered what SB Cal was doing on the issue of sales tax on integrated manufacturers who compete on construction projects. The Board of Equalization has now written two reports on this both of which we feel understate the problem for small contractors competing on road work. On January 20th Lori Kammerer our lobbyist and Skip Baldwin of Delta Construction and I have a meeting with BOE staff to discuss. Thank you to all that sent letters to Senator Mark Leno’s office on this issue

In the next couple of weeks we will be sending out our annual survey. Please take a look at it and let me know questions you might like added. Thursday January 21 we will finalize. Thank you to those that have told me you will help distribute and for others that may not have done so let me know if you will help.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

On Monday a letter and email went out to all 53 California House representatives asking them to co author HR4302. This is the bill that will provide stimulus funding for 7a and 504 loans. The funding will be used to guarantee these loans up to 90% and waive the fees. It also will increase the size of these loans from $2 million to $5 million.

Yesterday I received an email indicating that Congresswoman Jackie Speier will be adding her name as coauthor. Thank you Congresswoman.

In Sacramento the JOBS Committee will be sending a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chair of Small Business Committee Nydia Velazquez asking them to support HR5302. Thank you Toni Symonds.

In San Francisco President of the Board David Chiu has drafted a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking for her support. We are working on getting Supervisors to sign on the bill. At this point we have President Chiu, Sean Elsbernd,Michela Pier Alioto and John Avalos. Thank you David, John,Sean and Michela. We expect others will be signing. For those of you in SF if you know a Supervisor that has not signed please contact them and ask them to do so.

If any of you on this email know a California House member please ask them to coauthor Hr4302. If I can provide you additional information please let me know.

See below a request by Andrew Zingale who is the Legislative Director for Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Lori Soldana. He is asking for small business input on a proposal to provide small business owners more time to pay late fees. He has sent a letter from a small business constituent outlining the issue.Please let me know your thoughts

I don’t recall if we’ve had the opportunity to meet but I am the Legislative Director for Assembly Woman Lori Saldaña (San Diego), and follow your updates to the Small Business CA community on your distribution list.

We have been asked by a constituent and small business owner to look into a proposal (below) to allow more time to pay late penalties. I plan to discuss this with the Business & Professions Committee consultants here in the Assembly, but I’m also looking for feedback from Small Business associations such as SBC.

Any thoughts you may have would be welcomed as I vet this proposal. I appreciate your time.

As we discussed the other night, my little company is hopefully going to return to some growth in 2010 – after what was clearly the hardest year I’ve ever experienced. Frankly, it has been tough to remain “in business” and receive payments from clients (or even keep contracts, given cutbacks in other companies).

There are, in fact, many weeks that a very small amount of money in the bank account ($50-$200, in many cases) has meant the difference between keeping the company alive, and either paying utilities, contractors, vendors, or just barely getting through to the next week.

There is at least one thing that maybe could be a general help to small businesses throughout California, and would reduce the burden the I will assume thousands of other companies may be suffering:

· Corporate/LCC Filing Penalties: First, while California’s Corporate and LLC “annual tax” is relatively high compared to most other States, those companies (like ours) that have decided to “play by the rules” and form ourselves in California have committed to the $800/year basic fee. However, those that are late with filing and payments (as we are currently) are also now subject not only to significant penalties (such as a $250 penalty for our C-corp for not filing certain documents on time), but also (at least for our LLCs) to a Monthly Penalty for paying late (in this case it appears to be $48/month, plus interest). I would suggest that – beyond my personal example – there are likely thousands of other small companies that have barely survived that are only being driven further into debt and being put at further legal risks (such as tax liens, etc.) for not having the cash on hand to immediately catch up and pay these past-due amounts. Again, I think it’s reasonable for companies to pay the basic costs, but charging excessive monthly penalties and interest during these economic times only makes it harder for smaller companies to stay in business (in my opinion). Having a moratorium on additional penalties, or giving us an additional amount of time (120 days? 180 days? Not sure where to draw the line) to pay the basic fees would be one less problem for small companies to worry about (given the other challenges we face trying to regain strength)…

Just my opinion. Thank you very much for considering this suggestion. There are others that I’m sure I can come up with related to small business contracting and the high cost for LLCs (particularly when, for various reasons, one might need to have multiple LLCs), but I’ll leave that for later.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Awhile back I mentioned the calculations of experience modifications has been changed by the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau effective January 1.Where in the past the Bureau charged in the calculation dollar for dollar up to $2000 they are now using $7000 per claim. They also changed the calculation factors so that is you have frequent claims your modification will increase and conversely if you have a low frequency your modification will go down.We are just beginning to see the impact of this and in some cases it has been dramatic. For example a nonprofit that I work with under the old calculations would have had a modification of 155% under the old rules will now have a modification of 193%. We have also seen reductions but clearly not as dramatic as the increases. It should be also noted that this could have an impact on some contractors as in some cases they cannot bid work if their experience modification is over 125%.For those of you who have policies that renew in January and who have an experience modification what have you seen. For other who have policies renewing later in the year you may want to contact your insurance broker to see the impact of these changes.

Please see the language that has been incorporated in the Senate health bill. This has serious impacts for small business. The first regulations are around the so called Cadillac coverage tax. Employers will have significant reporting requirements. Keep in mind that benefits are not just health insurance but life, dental,vision HSAs or any benefit.You also will be required to file an informational report on any vendors that you pay over $600. The change here is that you will now be required to file reports for corporate vendors.How the tax enforcement will work is not determined and will begin 2013. The IRS will enforce the $600 effective 2011. The National Small Business Association of which Small Business California is a core member has been very vocal on these issues representing the interest of small business.

Sec 9001:>>>> (4) RESPONSIBILITY TO CALCULATE TAX AND APPLICABLE SHARES->>>> `(A) IN GENERAL- Each employer shall-->>>>> `(i) calculate for each taxable period the amount of the excess>>>>> benefit subject to the tax imposed by subsection (a) and the>>>>> applicable share of such excess benefit for each coverage>>>>> provider, and>>>>> `(ii) notify, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may>>>>> prescribe, the Secretary and each coverage provider of the amount>>>>> so determined for the provider.>>>> `(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS- In the case of>>>> applicable employer-sponsored coverage made available to employees>>>> through a multiemployer plan (as defined in section 414(f)), the>>>> plan sponsor shall make the calculations, and provide the notice,>>>> required under subparagraph (A).>>> And below is a summary of the 'revenue offset provisions' in the> Senate bill. (Section 9002 also refers to your concern, where> employers must include the value (cost) of the employer benefit on the> W-2. Section 9006 refers to the $600 threshold that you mentioned.)>> Sec. 9001. Excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage.> Levies an excise tax of 40 percent on insurance companies and plan> administrators for any health coverage plan that is above the> threshold of $8,500 for single coverage and $23,000 for family> coverage. The tax would apply to self-insured plans and plans sold in> the group market, but not to plans sold in the individual market> (except for coverage eligible for the deduction for self-employed> individuals). The tax would apply to the amount of the premium in> excess of the threshold. The threshold would be indexed at CPI-U plus> one percentage point, and a transition rule would increase the> threshold for the 17 highest cost States for the first 3 years. An> additional threshold amount of $1,350 for singles and $3,000 for> families is available for retired individuals age 55 and older and for plans that cover employees engaged in high risk professions.>> Sec. 9002. Inclusion of cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on W-2.> Requires employers to disclose the value of the benefit provided by> the employer for each employee¹s health insurance coverage on the> employee¹s annual Form W-2.>> Sec. 9003. Distributions for medicine qualified only if for prescribed> drug or insulin. Conforms the definition of qualified medical expenses> for HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs to the definition used for the medical> expense itemized deduction. Over-the-counter medicine obtained with a> prescription continues to qualify as a qualified medical expense.>> Sec. 9004. Increase in additional tax on distributions from HSAs and> Archer MSAs not used for qualified medical expenses. Increases the> additional tax for HSA withdrawals prior to age 65 that are used for> purposes other than qualified medical expenses from 10 percent to 20> percent. The additional tax for Archer MSA withdrawals not used for> qualified medical expenses would increase from 15 percent to 20 percent.>> Sec. 9005. Limitation on health flexible spending arrangements under> cafeteria plans. Limits the amount of contributions to health FSAs to> $2,500 per year.>> Sec. 9006. Expansion of information reporting requirements. Requires> businesses that pay any amount greater than $600 during the year to> corporate and non-corporate providers of property and services to file> an information report with each provider and with the IRS. Information> reporting is already required on payments for services to> non-corporate providers.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Small Business California had a good year in 2009. I apologize for the length of this email but we accomplished a lot in 2009.This is the short version and for a more complete list go to www.smallbusinesscalifornia.org. It will be on our website Friday.

For those of you that are not members of Small Business California I hope you will consider joining. You can do so by going to our website.

For all of you that are members thank you and I hope you feel your money has been well spent. If you have ideas on how we can do more to promote the interest of small businesses in California please let me know.

I want to especially thank our affiliate members the California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies and the Plumbing Heating Contractors and Cooling Contractors of California.

I would also like to thank Jim Baird from Bay Area Development Company for his strong support.

I hope you all agree that SB Cal is out front fighting the battles for California small businesses.

• Completed our fifth annual survey of California small business issues. There were over 600 responses and every county in California was represented in the survey.• Small Business California testified May 2009 before the House Small Business Committee.• Represented small business interest in the National Health debate. Small Business California represents small business on the Board of the Pacific Business Group on Health.• Added the Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors of California as an affiliate member of Small Business California.• Represented small business on the task force at the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau dealing with calculations of experience modifications.• Strongly opposed the sale of State Fund which would dramatically have impacted the rates of small business State Fund policy holders.• Provided strong support to the development of Clinic By The Bay in San Francisco. This is a Volunteers in Medicine Clinic which nationally has 74 clinics in 24 states.• In August sponsored a fundraiser recognizing San Francisco small business leaders and their accomplishments, over a quarter of a century.• Supported interim funding of SBA 7a and 504 loans. Put in place coalition of 34 associations for funding until end of fiscal year. Worked closely with NAGGL (7a) and NADCO (504) (S 2869 and H.R. 4302).• Received the environmental Business of the Year award from the Pacific Conservation League

LEGISLATIVE

• Sponsored Senate Bill 313 that will increase employer compliance in securing the purchase of a workers’ compensation policy and will ultimately lower employer assessments for law-abiding employers who are competing with the underground economy.• Supported and testified in favor of Assembly Bill 483 (Buchanan) to require the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to establish and maintain a free, public web site to allow individuals to obtain workers’ compensation coverage information about a specific employer.• SB-Cal sent several letters to and met with the members of the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees and their staff to keep intact the Net Operating Loss Carry Over Tax ability for small businesses, along with a request to retain the funding for the Health Families Program. Both programs were left either intact or their funding preserved.• Opposed AB 1139 (Perez) as it would have increased income taxes on those small businesses operating in the state’s enterprise zones.• Asked Senator Leno to send an inquiry to the BOE to verify and outline the inconsistency of the application of the Government and Tax Codes on small business construction contractors who are being taxed twice as compared to their big business counterparts when bidding for public and private construction projects.• Secured the development of a Return-to-Work Guidebook that will provide information to employers about the new laws pertaining to FEHA and ADA compliance.• Hank Ryan has been providing testimony and working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the agency having jurisdiction over the development and implementation of AB 32 regulations, to develop its Scoping Plan that will serve as the road map outlining the phases of each new regulation.• Small Business California has advocated for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, supporting the interests of independently owned technology companies against competition from large firms seeking to push small business out of the $2 billion a year Federal program. The debate included battles over the changes to the SBA definition of a small business.• Helped to secure the support of Senators Feinstein and Boxer to secure passage of Senate bill S. 1233. The Senate Bill preserves the spirit of the original SBIR program while SB-California is working with the Speaker’s Office on House bill H.R. 5819 which contains most of the changes that will negatively impact small business.• Small Business California-sponsored AB 615 is on the two-year track in order to thoroughly develop the expansion of the otherwise very short and unclear definition of existing law “first aid” injuries in the Labor Code when compared to the very specific 14-point list of non-first aid injuries included in Cal-OSHA’s definition.• Small Business California’s-sponsored AB 801 two-year bill. This bill was made a two-year bill so that the California Department of Insurance could work with labor in securing their sign off in allowing the Department of Insurance to join the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation and the Division of Workers’ Compensation in accessing and retrieving claims information from the Workers’ Compensation Information System for CDI’s fraud detection purposes.• At Senator Mark Leno’s request, Small Business California has been meeting with the Senator and his staff to provide recommendations to improve the state’s business climate for small employers on the following issues:o Water Company de-coupling to mitigate lost sales through water efficiency programs. This issue could potentially open the door for On Bill Financing programs for water users.o Issues affecting small business agriculture are recommended to encourage methane to energy opportunities, i.e. incentives for no till farming and other initiatives.o Incentives for increased usage of wireless sensors/internet dashboards to monitor small business equipment usage - important to facilitate smart meters for valid energy efficiency savings.o All investor owned utilities are now addressing On Bill Financing and are or will be offering financing directly to their customers. Only one publicly owned utility (Palo Alto) is in the process of developing OBF. Legislation that would address remaining barriers would be important to help deliver On Bill Financing to customers of the other POUs.

2009 Small Business California Energy Policy Achievements

EPA Grant Milestones

• Engage with CA Green Business Programs to increase support• Develop guidelines and templates for NSBA Green Business Council• Organize and distribute utility energy efficiency displays at northern CA Dept of Alcohol Beverage Control offices• Provide support for Palo Alto municipal utility On Bill Financing program development• Advocate at the CPUC for revolving fund use of stimulus funds to support energy efficiency financing• Continue support work with SDG&E for ongoing On Bill Financing program• Provide briefing about On Bill Financing for U.S. Senate Small Business Committee staffEnergy Foundation Grant Milestones• Develop and execute the “C of C Green Sheet” for distribution to CA Chambers• Visit and meet with California Chamber officials at over 40 offices in central valley and southern CaliforniaBay Air Quality Management District Grant• Create vehicle use profiles for 4 Bay Area businesses• Work with Ecology Action to create design for employer supported alternative vehicle financing• Publish Op Ed articles in SF Examiner and NSBA Advocate featuring electric vehicles for businesses

Transportation Alternative Financing

Establish a waiver of the tax on the (effectively) 0% loan for purchasing alternative fuel vehicle and would enable an internal loan from employer to employee in order to generate tax revenues. The value of building out this opportunity for the broadest range of employers to offer would maximize the incentive levels available for low to zero emissions vehicle programs to help bridge the gap of the expected higher costs for BEV (Electric Hybrid Vehicle) and PHEV (Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle)

On Saturday I will be attending a New Year’s Celebration with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I would greatly appreciate your sending an email of support for HR 4302. This is the bill that will provide funding for the rest of the fiscal year to provide the 90% guarantee on 7a and 504 SBA loans and waive the fees on these loans It will also increase the maximum size of SBA loans to $5 million from their current $2 millionSmall Business California along with 33 other small business association will be sending a letter of support to every California House member.I am asking that you send an email to Speakers Pelosi’s office as soon as possible.

The email should simply say:

Dear Speaker PelosiSmall businesses in California are struggling and there is a need for capital so that we can grow our businesses and provide jobs that California so desperately needs. I am writing to ask that you support HR 4302 which will provide funding to keep in place the 90% guarantee on 7a and 504 SBA loans, waive the fees on these loans and increase the size of these loans to a maximum $5 million. It is accepted wisdom that California cannot get itself out of double digit unemployment without small business. The passage of this bill will go a long way to help small business continue to be the economic engine that drives California’s economy and drives job growth.Respectfully

Please send this email to Anne.MacMillan@mail.house.govAnd Mark Herbert at Mark.Herbert@mail.house.gov

If you have ever had an SBA loan it would be great to include that and why it was important to you.

Your emails to Senators Boxer and Feinstein contributed greatly to getting them to cosponsor S2869 . This is the exact same bill in the Senate. Please send me a copy of the letter.

For all of you that have an experience modification on your workers compensation policy this will be important to you. Kelly Lewis from my office represents Small Business California on the Task Force mentioned below.Small Business California has been very outspoken on this issue and a few years ago we stopped a change that would have been detrimental to small business. We think these revisions will be helpful to many small businesses.

As you all know we have been working hard to get additional stimulus funding for 7a and 504 loans. We will be sending letters to every California House member asking them to coauthor HR 4302.Today we will be sending a letter to the JOBS Committee in the Assembly. It will be cosigned by 31 Small Business Associations. We are asking that they send a letter of support to the House small business committee and asking committee members to coauthor. We are also asking that a letter be sent to Speaker Pelosi. If you want a list of associations we are working with please let me know.

Some important changes are coming that could affect the premium your clients will pay in 2010.

The changes are to the California Experience Rating Plan (ERP). This is the mandatory plan that produces experience modifications (ex-mods) for all California employers that have sufficient payroll to qualify. The changes are effective January 1, 2010.

The changes to the ERP are based on recommendations from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) Experience Rating Task Force to improve the ex-mod’s predictive value and make it easier to understand.

Major changes to the Experience Rating Plan:

Claims SplitThe methodology formula used for splitting actual losses into primary and excesscomponents is changing to a “single split” model, with the first $7,000 of every lossconsidered primary. This change recognizes that an employer’s claims frequency ismore predictive of future losses than the actual size of a given claim.

Credibility Values UpdatedCredibility values are the weights applied to an employer’s loss experience. The updates recognize that the claims experience of a large employer is more predictive of future losses than the claims experience of a small employer.

Who Is Affected by the Changes?

Most employers will experience an ex-mod change of a few percentage points under the new plan. The precise impact on your clients will depend on the size of their payroll and the number and size of their losses. According to the WCIRB, an estimated 47 percent of all employers could see a decrease of up to 10 points under the plan.

If you have further questions about the Experience Rating Plan, please contact your State Fund marketing representative. If you or your client would like more information, visit the Broker or Employer’s page on our Web site at http://www.scif.com/.

Sincerely,Richard SchultzRichard SchultzRegional Vice President of Greater Bay Area

About Me

Small Business California is a proactive, non-partisan business advocate whose only agenda is the well being of California’s 3.2 million small businesses. Working for all small businesses for a better business environment, SB-Cal is responsive to the needs of small business owners.
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